News
In the press conference held by Governor Northam today, March 19, 2020, the Governor announced a few things that will hopefully help our members. You can find the link to the full press release here, and a summary of the pertinent information is below.
We know that these are scary and uncertain times in the retail industry with everything that is going on right now. We want to make sure that our members know that VRF is playing an active role in conversations on the State and Federal level on how to best help businesses through these trying times. We are constantly communicating how COVID-19 is impacting Virginia’s retailers, and how elected officials can help. We will continue to update our members with major announcements via email, social media, and through our resource guide found here:
Minimum Wage
As reported last week, both the House and the Senate each have their own version of a Minimum Wage bill which has passed their respective body. HB 395 and SB 7 are the two vehicles for Minimum Wage increase. SB 7, as passed on the Senate Floor, is the version that contains some of the mitigation factors the business community sought. As of this report, HB 395 has been conformed to SB 7 (meaning it now looks just like SB 7) and will now be heard on the Senate Floor. It is likely to pass the Senate in that form, however, the House will most likely reject those amendments once it comes back to them and the bill will end up in Conference.
We have reached the Crossover point of the 2020 Session. This means that all legislation that has passed the body of origin will now be heard in the opposite body. A list of bills, and their current status, that impact the Retail Industry can be found below.
Bills currently being tracked by the VRF team that may impact your business.
